J.K. Rowling Just Wrote the Longest, Craziest Family History for Harry Potter

Receive the latest entertainment-news updates in your inbox

No one can accuse J.K. Rowling of not feeling nostalgic for Harry Potter.

The author is known to occasionally take to her dedicated Pottermore website to share updates or indulge fans in secrets from the series, and her latest post goes totally above and beyond. Rowling put together an entire oral Potter family tree–you know, because so many fans were staying up nights wondering what Harry's ancestors were doing in the year 1250.

All jokes aside, Rowling's incessant rehashing of the Potter world does allow super fans (and casual fans, too) to keep their HP longing at bay. The entire post is certainly worth reading for a healthy dose of Rowling-isms, but we'll certainly do our to recap (because honestly, who has time these days?).

'Ellen': Taraji P. Henson on 'Bittersweet' Emmys

Taraji P. Henson stopped by "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to chat about the Emmy Awards and Viola Davis' historic best actress victory.

(Published Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015)

In short, let's say that the Potter family is old. Like, super old. Medieval to be exact. Their folklore begins way back in the twelfth century with Linfred of Stinchcombe, who was, not surprisingly, an eccentric man who had quite a way with...you guessed it...potions. He kept his wizarding ways a secret from his muggle neighbors, all the while plying them with concoctions to cure their pox and whatnot.

Ol' Linfred then gave way to a succession of successful wizards and witches, most of which made boatloads of money to contribute to the family fortune and one of whom happened to marry a lady who owned a little something called the Invisibility Cloak. Two of the forthcoming Potters even served on the Wizengamot in London, and earned the clan a reputation for being muggle-friendly as a result of their penchant for doing things like not declaring war on innocent non-wizards.

Eventually the family came down to one Fleamont (pause for laughter) and Euphemia Potter, who birthed their son James. They lived long enough to see him get hitched to a lovely girl named Lily, but died tragically of, ironically, Dragon Pox, before they could meet their only grandson. (Harry, duh).